My Trip to Wine Country... sort of

Well I did see Sideways, so maybe my interest was piqued.

On Sunday I took a trip Wine Country. In a manner of speaking. I don't know if you know where Pahrump is - I'm not really sure myself. If you drive roughly west of Las Vegas you will hit Pahrump near the border. It also happens to be an entrance to Death Valley. Even as I arrived there I was wondering aloud, "How can a Winery be in the middle of the desert?"

Turns out that there can be a winery almost anywhere. There are even some in Alaska! The fact is, most wineries import their 'grape juice' from elsewhere. Grape growers grow & crush the grapes, and then usually sell them to the wineries. The wineries mainly just concentrate on the fermenting, mixing, and bottling processes. So there is a winery in Nevada. Two, actually, but the one in Reno is supposed to be pathetically small.

Our wine guide was actually very good. He wasn't one of those stuck up wine experts, yet he was still very knowledgable about wine. He says, "You can taste a hint of Coriander and a sliver of strawberry in your wine? What are you, crazy? I suppose you can train your palette in these things, but my philosophy is, if it tastes good, drink it! That's all there is to it." Amen to that!

In case you are wondering, here is what I got to sample:

• Chardonnay - Decent white wine, not too bad.


• Peak White - Actually a 'secret recipe' of the winery, hence the nondescriptive name. Similar to the Chardonnay, but a little crisper. I might have grown to like it with time, but for now it was just okay.


• Symphony - Another white. Supposedly it is some sort of hybrid clone of two grapes. Whatever. It had a nice sweet taste, but at the same time lacked distinction. It also had a weird aftertaste to it, maybe it was just me.


• Burgundy - Red. Not the authentic one from France, but supposedly similar to it. I liked it. It had a nice sweetness to it. Burgundy is supposed to be an easy wine to drink for those people who don't like to drink wine (I fit in that catagory).


• Merlot - Seemed alright, mellow without being sweet. Another red wine.


• Cabernet Sauvignon - Slightly sharper than the Merlot. Not bad! Actually, by this time I was pretty buzzed, so I don't think you should put much weight in this opinion.

We took a break to eat. Good thing, I was getting a little drunk.

• Creme Sherry - It was really sweet, kind of like desert. Buttery walnut tasting. A little too sweet for me. It would of been good with my ice cream, but I already ate it! Why didn't they warn me beforehand!?

I didn't get to taste more - they were completely out of some of them, like Pinot and Zinfandel. None of the wines were bad, and a few were very good. Anyway the trip was pretty enjoyable. I would definitely recommend taking a wine trip sometime in your life.

Fun facts about Wine:

• The difference between White Wine and Red Wine: White Wine is made from the juice of crushed grapes, and the juice is allowed to ferment by itself. White Wine is designed to be consumed quickly, it doesn't actually improve with age. White Wine is best served chilled. Red Wine, on the other hand, is fermented with all of the skin and seeds in it. The grape mixture turns from clear to red quickly over about half a day (Rose/pink wine is made by partially fermenting in the skins & seed, and is taken out of the mixture when the color is just right). Red Wines improve over time until it reaches it's peak (who knows when... unless you read those wine magazines or something, you wouldn't know), then it slowly deteriorates. And Red Wine is usually served at a warmer temperature.


• When storing wine, avoid temperature changes - that can ruin the wine. Storing wine chilled slows the aging process. This is good for white (which never improves). Storing or serving chilled red wine isn't a crime - just avoid excessive temperature changes.


• Fermentation is a process that converts the sugar in the fruit (grapes for wine) to alcohol. If a wine is a little sweet, then the winemaker halted the fermentation process just before all of the sugar was consumed. This can be a tricky thing though - if all of the fermentation agents aren't completely removed, the wine might ferment again messing up the wine's taste profile.


• Speaking of taste, the wine you are drinking is more than likely blended. When wine is made, it is made in seperate batches. The smallest changes in the process, time & temperature changes, where the wine was fermented, etc. affect the taste. When the winemaker makes the wine, he blends wines from different batches (which all taste a little different) until he or she gets the taste that is desired.


• Wine is taxed. Alot. In fact the taxes make up more than the cost to make the wine. So if you buy that $10 bottle of wine, know that at least $5 goes to Uncle Sam. Also the tax rate amplifies proportionally with the alcohol content. So the tax on a 17% alcohol wine would be roughly triple the corresponding tax on a 13% alcohol wine of the same volume.


• Wine is stored on it's side because it's important to keep the cork wet. If the cork fails, oxygen gets in the wine, which ruins it quickly.


• Corks are actually the worst part of the winemaking process. In an effort to avoid cork failure, metal twist caps are becoming more common. Don't be surprised to see them everywhere in about 15 years. There is even a canned wine - called Sophia.


• Wine is typically aged in oak barrels. The oak barrels often seeps in various 'tastes' into the wine as it ages. Nutmeg, oak, cinnamon, these can be imparted into the wines during the aging process. There are nearly infinite combinations of tastes that can be infused into wine by using different techniques. For example, twice aged wine produces some lactic acid which gives the wine a 'buttery' taste.


• The winemaking industry is improving at a rapid pace. The cheaper-end wine you drink today is probably just as good as the better wines available 20 years ago.


• Higher-end wine, expensive wine, tend to have the seed/skins and various other sedement left in it. I suppose hardcore winos want the wine closer to its 'natural' state. Beware if you're a newbie wine drinker; use a decanter.


• White wine is best with fish and poutry. Red wine goes best with red meat. But you knew that already.


• France and Italy produce more wine, seperately, than the entire United States. (Not surprising. The USA can't be good at everything. At least not at the same time!)


• There is a substance called 'tannins' that give red wine a bitter, puckery taste. This taste can be mellower in sweeter red wine (think sugar in coffee). I found a link for more information: http://www.wine-pages.com/course/hand3.htm


• Wine kits & wine bars are becoming more popular in the USA (it's already booming in Canada). Soon you may even be able to brew your own wine at your local mall. Almost certainly you can brew your own wine at home (in small amounts) with a wine kit.

That's all I can think of for now. If you want to see more information on the winery I visited, I have a link here: http://www.westernhorizonresorts.com/pahrump_valley_winery/index.htm

It's a small winery, and the wines they have available can vary from year to year. Funny thing about wine is that the smaller wineries often produce far superior wine compared to the big mass production wineries. (As if I would know) The food was very good as well.

Anyways, I hope you found this post interesting.